Someone on another message board asked what people thought of Commission Junction. I ended up writing an extensive response... I figured I'd post it here, as it ended up being quite long (but informative).... http://www.very-cool-stuff.com/ubb/smile.gif

One of the big reasons why I want to go with a network instead of individual merchants is that the Network can consolidate payments. This way, if I make $20 or so PER merchant (let's say 5 different ones), then the "network" can send me a check for $100, instead of me waiting until I reach the individual minimum payouts PER merchant.

I haven't gotten paid by Amazon yet - I just don't drive enough traffic there... yet I've made _some_ money. Befree and Linkshare unfortunately suffer from this as well. They simply bring merchants together - so you still have to wait for (usually) quarterly payments at $20-$50 minimums per merchant.

I have not been paid by a Linkshare or a Befree merchant yet due to the minimums... while as a whole, I've made a reasonable amount. (some checks should be coming soon though). You also have to deal with payment issues from each individual merchant. So, you have to chase down individual merchants about payments.

Now, Websponsors, Bachsys, and Cyberbounty are good programs as well - and provide consolidated payment. The biggest downfall of these programs, however - is that they don't provide their own tracking code. They rely on merchants to provide them with lead results. So, as a result, you end up having to wait weeks to months before you find out how a program is doing. Makes it hard to fine-tune your advertisments. CJ, though, has close to real time tracking. You can see within a couple of hours, how well a program is doing.

That leaves clickxchange and clicktrade. Both very similar to CJ. However, cost of entry for affiliates to join Clickxchange or Clicktrade is very little - as a result, there are a LOT (too many) affiliate programs. Many of which are very transient, and will run out of "funds". So, you really have to stay on top of these programs to make sure you are still being paid for all your clicks/leads.

So, Disadvantages of CJ.com? The obvious flip-side to the previous comment... they don't have as many programs... so you might not be able to find as many that "fit" your site. (That being said, they still have quite a few merchants.)

As for payment - I've never heard any complaints, and they pay on monthly and within a month after payment. I've received 2 checks so far from them.

good post! the only problem i have with cj is that for some reason my webmaster referrals aren't tracked properly, but o'well. cj looked at the prob and said it may be the tracking script i'm using that's messing up the their tracking and/or cookie, whatever. their affiliate support is pretty good. when i notified them of the above problem they responded and investigated it quickly.